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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/25548253">From One Parent To Another</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/neutralbrick/pseuds/neutralbrick'>neutralbrick</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (Cartoon 2018)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Babysitting</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-07-27</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-07-27</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-05 10:36:12</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>3,875</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/25548253</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/neutralbrick/pseuds/neutralbrick</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Despite his initial optimism about caring for Joseph, Draxum's inexperience with parenting has left him with serious burnout in just a couple of months and Joseph's unconventional nature didn't help. Asking Splinter for assistance is one of the last things he'd ever thought he'd do, but Mikey would likely be upset at him for housing anything mystic in nature, and Draxum couldn't deny that Splinter had expertise the alchemist did not. It was a long shot: Splinter was vocal about his contempt for Draxum without prompt, yet he found the mutant at this apartment door nonetheless.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>3</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>26</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>From One Parent To Another</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Set before the hidden city episodes, so Splinter is still ready to chuck his casserole at Draxum. Yes, Joseph's age seems to fluctuate a lot in the show, but as far as I'm concerned that's a baby.</p>
<p>Also, not a BaronJitsu work, but Splinter is still a little 👀 about Draxum in this despite wanting to drop him off a building because being a bicon is a blessing and a curse.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Splinter heavied as he finally got up to Draxum’s floor: the complex was at least 4 floors too high to justify not having an elevator or Splinter was simply more out of shape than he wished to acknowledge. He was wearing clothes much like his kid disguise, but without the hat, not wanting to wear his robe during the commute. Taking a seat on the stair landing to collect himself, Splinter pulled out his phone and reviewed the texts that brought him here in the first place: they were about Draxum’s new “creation.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Splinter recounted how he was absolutely fuming when he overheard April and Mikey talking about the lunchroom incident, blowing up Draxum’s phone about how irresponsible and downright stupid he was for allowing that to happen at all, let alone putting April, his boy, and the rest of the school in danger. The only thing that kept his insults from digging further was Mikey and April’s defense of Draxum and how he apparently saved everyone at the cost of his stupid lunch lady award, though Splinter made a point to mention that if Draxum behaved he wouldn’t need to save anyone in the first place. Turns out unbeknownst to everyone, the yokai saved more than just the school that day.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Sloppy Joseph. What kind of name is that?” Splinter muttered as he raised from the landing, finally heading towards Draxum’s apartment as he caught his breath. Looking for the apartment number, Splinter thought about his complex attitude regarding the yokai reaching out to him for help: it was satisfying to see Draxum admit that Splinter had more expertise in the field than him and being desperate enough to reach out to Splinter at all. However, it was enraging to interact with the man due to their history and Draxum’s arrogant attitude even while asking for assistance. Still, despite not wanting to even be in the same city with this man while he was still breathing, Splinter thought it’d be best to see what mess Draxum caused this time rather than have April or his sons roped in this time. A commotion behind an apartment door Splinter walked past let him know he’d found the place.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Joseph... “ Draxum sounded like he was at his wit’s end, but not as though he was trying to control his anger. Rather, it was like he was too tired to be angry anymore. Miserable even. Splinter knocked on the door, met only with a barrage of squishes, muffled giggles, and grunts of frustration. After a final sound of something knocking over with glass breaking, there was a sigh and then the distinct click of hooves coming towards the door. They were slow and labored as was the unlocking of the door. When it finally opened, Splinter was in for a sight.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Draxum was slouched forward, his messy hair partly covering his face as he was too tired to maintain his usual posture, evident by the dark bags under his eyes that had difficulty staying open. Dawning a purple robe that had days old grease stains, it was loose with one side dropped from his shoulder entirely, revealing Draxum’s lack of shirt that Splinter wishes he hadn’t taken note of. Draxum held the creature in his free arm, barely holding onto it with all its wriggling. It was wearing a white onesie like… a baby. Splinter furrowed his brow in confusion, not expecting Draxum to treat an experiment of his in such a way, but concluded it must be for some practical reason.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“You look worse than usual. Never knew that was possible.” Splinter spat out of malice rather than truth, though he’d sooner drop dead than admit that Draxum didn’t look half bad in that robe even while having an appearance reminiscent of the walking dead. Splinter was begrudgingly empathic at the disheveled site in front of him, a spitting image of the countless restless nights he had with his boys when he was first getting ahold of the situation. Draxum’s genuinely relieved face at the sight of Splinter only made his already complicated feelings about helping out worse.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“You came…” Draxum perked up slightly, adjusting his grip on Joseph as the kid calmed down at the sight of Splinter, his curiosity about the short rat distracting him for his hyperactive nature if only for a moment.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“And just let you plot with your new experiment without intervening? Yeah right.” Splinter shoved past Draxum, not showing his surprise at how it made Draxum stumble more than he expected. Looking around, Splinter saw what a mess the apartment was: Draxum evidently had time to fix the place up and decorate in his time on the surface, the original holes in the wall now filled and replaced with a nice neutral wallpaper. However, it was now covered in grease stains while some furniture, like new fairly decent chairs and a lamp, was toppled over along with the trash can. Splinter stepped forward, stepping on a greasy feeling plush bear before stumbling back in disgust at the feeling.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Since when do war criminals have stuffed animals?” Splinter grumbled while he tried in vain to wipe the grease off his foot.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“... It’s Joseph’s. He enjoys chewing it. He ate the toy blocks.” Draxum spoke flatly, closing the door as he let out a yawn, the hand he brought up during it now used to lazily rub his face before dropping back to his side. “Joseph’s?” Splinter questioned, looking around the room again to finally register a sizable amount of toys of various sizes thrown around the room. There was a collapsed and greasy playpen among the clutter and even a high chair with the tray thrown somewhere in the mess in the small apartment’s kitchen. Splinter was taken aback: by the look of it, the jerk had been attempting to parent his latest creation. There were even attempts at childproofing the electric sockets and cabinets, though some of the latter being open showed the little creature was craftier than Draxum thought.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Draxum’s efforts at seemingly nurturing the beast were both confusing and enraging for Splinter due to reasons he could not fully articulate. He never expected the yokai to care about others, let alone kids, in any way reassembling parenting, yet seeing glimpses of this side of Draxum… Splinter knew how quickly Draxum first turned on his boys when they proved to be more than just his mindless lab experiments. While he absolutely would never allow Draxum to have such a role in his boys’ lives, the yokai’s inability or even unwillingness to be paternal to his sons despite his hand in creating them… “hurt” might have described it best, but Splinter brushed off such a ridiculous thought the moment it crossed his mind.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Joseph, I’ve told you countless times to not pull my hair...” Splinter’s thoughts were interrupted by a giggling Joseph pulling and even biting at Draxum’s hair as the yokai attempted to wrestle it out of the kid’s grasp. He could easily just yank himself free, yet it was obvious Draxum was attempting to be gentle in how he was addressing the mischievous addition to his “family.” Splinter crossed his arms and eyed Draxum suspiciously to rebuild his guard that had been slowly clipped at since he stepped foot into the apartment. He could easily just be too tired to be mean right now.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Bitten off more than you can chew? At least you had the choice to do that.” Splinter remarked bitterly, though this got no reaction out of a high-strung Draxum outside of momentarily closing his eyes and exhaling before finally freeing his now greasy hair. Draxum then suddenly stepped forward and shoved Joseph in Splinter’s arms before he could react. Splinter was bewildered and snapped back to reality when Draxum began walking away.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Hey! Where do you think you’re going?!”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Don’t-” Draxum’s voice raised pointedly for a moment before cutting himself off as he clutched his head for a moment, signs of a raging headache that had been building for days and was one of the many things that made him testy. Taking a deep breath as he raised his hands in front of him to recollect himself, Draxum started again.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Don’t yell: my head is killing me and it makes him antsy. It’s hard enough to keep a grip on him already.” Draxum resumed walking away, entering what Splinter concluded was a bathroom when he heard the water running. If he called Splinter over just so he could dump this creature on him while he soaked in the tub Splinter was going to-</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Draxum returned with a bucket, mop, and grabbed a fallen broom off the floor as he returned to the main room.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Oh.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Wordlessly, Draxum began sweeping, going straight for the broken glass of the lightbulb of the fallen lamp first and picking up toppled items as he went. Splinter had never seen someone look so tense and determined while cleaning, evidently unable to spare a moment to tidy for a while now. Splinter’s attention was brought back to the gremlin in his arms as his whiskers were given a hard pull, resulting in a yelp of pain and giggling. Great, the little monster was a sadist like his dad.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Splinter fully extended his arms to keep anything grabbable out of Joseph’s reach, finally getting a full look at him as Joseph reached forward to still try and grab at Splinter. He was… objectively gross looking, being all meaty with grease dripping off him at some points. He even felt squishy despite not having much give as Splinter held him firmly. However, something was endearing about him as well: maybe it was just the inherent instinct to care for kids that sparked it, but Splinter had to admit that the boney fishtail faux hair, the melting face with big eyes, and the kid being chunky like all babies are all came together to make Joseph quite unconventionally adorable. Splinter felt the first smile he had since Draxum texted him spread across his face.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Hey, little guy. Aren’t you the trouble maker for causing all this mess.” Splinter couldn’t help his warm tone, feeling nostalgic as the moment reminded him of when he’d interact with his sons when they were babies. Splinter’s sour mood faded as he began to play with Joseph, utilizing some of the scattered stuffed animals and even had Joseph chase his tail when Splinter set him on the ground. The kid was much faster than he looked and Splinter quickly found out he had a biting problem when he got a hold of his tail. The kid could actually keep up with Splinter as he ran around the apartment, playing a game of chase as they carefully weaved around objects, though Joseph nearly toppled over the lamp again when running past, Draxum barely catching it. When Splinter got caught, Splinter lightly tossed Joseph in the air much to the kid’s amusement, finally drawn out the moment when Draxum let out a concerned gasp once he did. Snapping back to reality, Splinter glared at Draxum, who had finished cleaning the kitchen and was almost done sweeping the rest of the apartment. This was the most alert Draxum had looked all night, opening his mouth to scold Splinter before being swiftly cut off.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“I know what I’m doing, Draxum, I’ve raised 4 of these things. It’s not like I’m throwing him 5 feet in the air, it’s inches at most.” Splinter’s expression dared Draxum to challenge him as he set Joseph down, but he was surprised at the protective tone Draxum snapped back with.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Do not drop him.” There was a threat between those words as Draxum slowly returned to cleaning, sweeping up debris in a dustpan as his eyes flickered toward Splinter every so often. This night was challenging a lot about what Splinter painted the yokai out to be. Too much for his liking. His attention was brought back to Joseph, suddenly babbling irritably and getting fussy. He was chewing on the stuffed bear Splinter stepped on earlier and turning away when Splinter tried to touch him.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“What’s got you so upset all of a sudden?” Draxum all but dropped what he was holding when Splinter asked that, startling both him and the kid when the broom hit the ground, quickly crouching down beside Splinter to inspect his kid. Splinter did not appreciate how close Draxum was, but did find it fascinating to see Joseph immediately reach out to the yokai when he didn’t want anything to do with Splinter just now. Draxum suddenly furrowed his brow as he picked up Joseph.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“What time is it?”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Uh…” Splinter pulled out his phone. “...6:41.” Draxum grumbled under his breath about losing track of time and went to place Joseph in his high chair, looking incredibly aggravated as he still could not find it’s tray and begin to look for it while Joseph began to work up more of a fuss and not helping Draxum’s already fried nerves in the slightest. Splinter joined in the search, finding it under the playpen after a moment and handing it to Draxum who promptly attached it. Splinter thought he heard a “thank you” from Draxum, but the yokai put little effort into not muttering. Draxum pet Joseph’s head to revive his patience a bit before heading to the fridge: Splinter noticed a lot of papers hung on the fridge, ranging from a schedule to what looked like a child’s nutritional guide. There was even a long list of foods largely marked up with lines and scribbles of frustration.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“What’s that list for? Keeping track of what you can cook without burning the place down?” Splinter jeered, well aware of the excuse Draxum called food he served at the school. Draxum leered back at Splinter before pulling out a premade meal, the fridge full of them and portioned for a kid. Draxum had obviously made them himself, but they didn’t look awful: Mikey was often on the phone with Draxum and Splinter overheard them talking about cooking frequently for the past couple of months. It looked like Mikey’s pointers helped out, Draxum heating up some sort of veggie mac &amp; cheese in the microwave.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“...The list. It’s what I can actually get him to eat.” Draxum lazily remarked as he filled a sippy cup with milk while the food heated. Gesturing to a stain on the front door, Draxum continued. “He’ll eat year-old gum off the bottom of a desk, but I make something of actual nutritional value and he just… flings it.” Draxum rested against the counter while still looking at the stain. “...Glass dishes and infants don’t mix.” Splinter found the exhausted tone all too familiar as Draxum went to retrieve the food from the beeping microwave, pulling up a chair next to the high chair and placing it in front of Joseph with a fork along with the milk. It was such a domestic sight. Splinter actually found it humorous to see Draxum attempt to feed Joseph who would only turn his head when the fork got close. Maybe it was just nice seeing the former Baron so fed up.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“You had no problem eating this yesterday, why is there one now?” Draxum was having a genuine back and forth with Joseph for a moment, even getting a panicked look when the kid began to pick up the plate, Draxum forcing it back down with a series of rapid no’s. Fighting a losing battle, Draxum put the fork down and leaned back in the chair, rubbing his temples as he looked at Joseph in disbelief and clearly trying to act like he wasn’t overwhelmed. Draxum turned to Splinter with his hands still on the sides of his face as the mutant pulled up a second chair to stand on top of. Draxum was confused but said nothing.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Let me show you how it’s done.” Splinter said as he picked up the fork, getting Joseph’s attention as he made airplane noises and playfully moved the fork around. It took a few attempts, but Joseph eventually opened up and let the plane “land,” now happily eating without fuss. Splinter looked at Draxum, who was absolutely confounded.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“...All I had to do was emulate an aircraft?” Draxum said as he relived months struggling to get Joseph to eat all at once.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Train noises work too when the kid wises up. Just make sure the kid is having fun and you can get them to do anything.” Splinter advised as he continued feeding the kid as Draxum leaned his head back and groaned in annoyance for not figuring that out himself. After a moment, Draxum stood up.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“I’ll finish cleaning. I might not get a chance to again for... a while.” Draxum at least had the decency to inform Splinter of what he was doing this time, met with a dismissive hum as Splinter continued doting on the kid. As Draxum handled the clutter and eventually got to mopping, Splinter kept Joseph entertained through dinner, playing peekaboo and even having to fight Joseph for the fork as he decided it was a part of the meal. Splinter kept a close eye on Joseph as he sipped his milk, half expecting him to just shove the cup into his mouth. Suddenly remembering a crucial part of what made Joseph such an issue to begin with, Splinter quickly spoke up.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Why isn’t he growing? April said he grew to the size of a teen from a bagged lunch alone.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Huh? Oh. Mystic energy takes to cloth very easily.” Draxum vaguely answered as he returned to cleaning. Splinter rolled his eyes at the lack of clarity before finally noticing the orb around the collar of the onesie, mounted on a blue bow. Tapping it, it let off a faint green glow for a second before returning to normal. Guess this was what kept the kid’s growth in check, how it worked wasn’t exactly Splinter's area of expertise and Draxum could barely focus on mopping, let alone a game of 20 questions in his sleep-deprived state. Just as Draxum picked up a sponge for a grease spot on the wall, Joseph let out a yawn and rubbed his eyes.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Looks like it’s a certain someone’s bedtime.” Splinter warmly said to Joseph as he began to detach the tray of the high chair that was keeping him in place. Splinter picked Joseph up and hopped down from the chair he was standing on as the drowsy mutant rested a head on his shoulder, still holding the greasy plush. Splinter already could feel his cheek and clothes getting greasy, but couldn’t bring himself to fret over it.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Where’s-”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“My room.” Draxum didn’t bother to turn from his scrubbing to answer Splinter, close to making the apartment spotless for the first time in a while. Splinter felt his mood begin to spoil again at Draxum’s shortness with him, but held his tongue: he could wait until he laid Joseph down before giving Draxum an earful. As it was the only other door besides the bathroom’s it was easy to locate. Splinter was met with a mess: dirty clothes were thrown across the ground, clean laundry on top of a dresser, unfolded and bunched up, and the bed was unmade. Splinter couldn’t exactly judge considering the state of his own room, but did so nonetheless.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>At the side of the bed Draxum slept on, there was a crib pushed against the wall that was surprisingly neat in contrast to the rest of the room. Looks like it was the only thing Draxum had time to keep tidy. The room’s set up reminded Splinter of when the turtles were babies, never leaving their side even while they slept. It helped keep them calm at night and relieved Splinter of some of his own mounting worries that always seemed to come to a head right before a rare moment of rest. Splinter was growing frustrated with himself as he continued to find a level of familiarity in a lot of Draxum’s behavior throughout the night. Sickening.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>After fiddling with the crib a bit, it was luckily a model that allowed the side to slide down, meaning he wouldn’t have to jump into the crib just to place Joseph in, who was sound asleep by the time he left Splinter’s arms. Splinter leaned on the crib’s edge, silently looking down on Joseph as he slept with a content expression. Tonight really highlighted how much he missed the time when his own kids were this young even if their teen years were just as rewarding, just for different reasons. Splinter debated whether he was already attached to Joseph enough to tolerate being around Draxum more. Regretfully so, the answer was probably yes.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Raising the crib side again, Splinter noticed a photo frame on the nightstand, bright and gaudy in contrast to the rest of the room. It was a frame Mikey had evidently decorated with rhinestones and everything, containing a photo of Mikey and Draxum that his son obviously took without properly warning Draxum, who had an alarmed expression. Splinter felt himself steaming: he hated the attachment Mikey had towards Draxum, though his objections only served to make Mikey upset so he largely left it alone. Splinter was curious as to why Draxum kept the photo though. Splinter justified it as Draxum not wanting to deal with the fuss Mikey would make if he found out Draxum discarded it, though Splinter knew he didn’t believe that.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Splinter exited the bedroom, closing the door softly right as Draxum plopped down on the cheap sofa. It might as well have been full of royal ostrich feathers with how Draxum sunk into the couch. The clutter was gone, the floor was mopped, and even the stain on the front door was mostly gone. The place finally looked livable for the first time in months. Draxum rested his head on his hand, propped up on the couch arm as he turned to look at Splinter. He was the image of exhaustion.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“...Is he asleep?” Draxum drew out, putting a lot of his focus towards not just passing out.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Yeah, out like a log.” Draxum sighed in relief: he’d get at least a few hours of uninterrupted sleep tonight. He had a small, tired smile on his face for a second before another yawn overtook him. His head was slowly lowering towards the armrest as sleep slowly took hold.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“...Why?”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Hm?” Draxum was just aware enough to acknowledge Splinter even said anything.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Why would you keep Joseph around like this? You treat him like… like a kid. Like your own kid.” None of this made sense to Splinter. This wasn’t plotting, it wasn’t even training, it was just… domestic. Familial.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“...‘Cause I… created… him…” Draxum trailed off as his head rested on his arm propped up on the armrest, fast asleep on the sofa. Tired enough to fall asleep in front of someone he knew thought of him as an enemy and not even thinking twice about it.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>…Splinter needed to get home. The grease ruining his clothes were the least of his problems right now and not even close to the most upsetting.</span>
</p>
  </div></div>
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